Library Journal
: When millionaire and mystery author Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk sends out wedding announcements to his ex-wife and children, the family descends on Waverly Court, their father's large estate in Cambridgeshire. Family tensions soon break out into murder, and Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and Sergeant Fear are called in. In her series debut, Malliet, who won a Malice Domestic Grant to write this novel, lays the foundation for an Agatha Christie-like murder mystery, although the plot lacks direction and could have used a few more red herrings. Traces of humor add to a story enhanced by the detection skills of St. Just and Fear. This will appeal to Christie fans and readers who enjoy British cozies.

Publishers Weekly
: Fans of stylish English detective work will welcome Malliet's droll debut, the first in a new series. When Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk, a pompous cozy author, invites his four grown children to his Yuletide wedding to Violet Winthrop at his 18th-century manor outside Cambridge, none of the four is pleased at the prospect of a young stepmother who could inherit their father's vast fortune. Besides, Violet's considered a black widow who did in her first husband. Soon after Sir Adrian announces during a family dinner that he and Violet are already wed, eldest son Ruthven turns up dead in the wine cellar. Sir Adrian's subsequent murder in his office doesn't inspire tears from either his bride or his first wife. Detective Chief Inspector St. Just and Detective Sergeant Fear of the Cambridgeshire constabulary conduct a lively investigation that underscores how the lack and the love of money might be at the root of society's ills. (July)